Tues.’s Devo - The Sin and the Trespass Offering

Read: Leviticus 4:1-5:19; Mark 2:13-3:6; Psalm 36:1-12; Proverbs 10:1-2 Today we read about the sin offering and the trespass offering and we will discuss the difference between the two. *** The sin offering was to be given when a person unintentionally sinned and then realized they had sinned. Their offering was their act of repentance to make things right between them and God. We are given four categories of people: the anointed priest, the whole congregation, a leader, or the common people. *** The sin of the anointed priest would bring sin on the people. He was to bring a bull and lay his head on the bull transferring his sin to the bull. He was to take the blood from the bull and bring it into the tabernacle and sprinkle part of the blood 7 times before the Lord in front to the veil leading to the Holy of Holies. He was also to put some of the blood on the horns of the incense altar. There rest of the blood was to be poured out at the base of the bronze altar in the courtyard. The kidneys, the fat and the liver were to be burned on the altar and the rest of the bull was to be taken outside the camp and burned completely. If the whole congregation of Israel signed unintentionally then realized their sin, they were to offer a bull and the elders were to lay their hands on the head of the bull and accept responsibility for the people. Everything else was done just like the sacrifice of the anointed priest who sinned. *** When a leader sinned he was to offer a male goat and lay his hands on its head. Its blood would only be put on the horns of the bronze altar. Its fat would be burned on the altar. *** If a common person unintentionally sinned, he was to bring a female goat and it was done like for the leader. The common person may substitute a female lamb instead of the goat. *** The priest and the children of Israel were different than the leader and the common person in that the priest and the children of Israel had a much greater intimacy with the Lord, so they had sinned against the very presence of God. The blood of their sacrifice had to be taken closer to where God’s presence was. God makes a distinction between us and the world. *** A trespass offering was given when a person violated someone’s property or someone’s reputation. *** In the first case given, a person witnessed the truth but did not speak in defense of the person which made him guilty of the sin. He must atone for his sin. Another situation was given where a person testified wrongly in a case then realizes his fault. Two sacrifices were made. One for the blood to sprinkle for cleansing and the other for a burnt offering to take the sin away. Some sins required restitution and they had to bring the shekel of the sanctuary. This was a guilt offering to ransom their soul. *** Doesn’t this make us so grateful that our sacrifice has been given, and our debt paid through the blood of Christ. All we have to do is bring our confession to the Lord and ask his forgiveness. He totally erases it from our slate. Thank you, Jesus! *** In Mark, Jesus passed Levi sitting at the tax booth and called him to follow him. Levi is also Matthew. He ate that day at Matthew’s house along with Matthew’s other tax-collecting friends. The Pharisees questioned why Jesus would eat with such sinners and he explained that it wasn’t the people who were well that needed a physician, but the ones who were sick. He came to call the sinners to him, not the righteous. He was speaking to them who thought they were righteous, but were the greatest sinners of all. *** For some reason, the Pharisees and even John’s disciples were fasting, but Jesus’ disciples were not. The Pharisees questioned Jesus about this also. Jesus explained that wedding guests didn’t fast when the bridegroom was with them. He would be taken from them in the future, and his disciples would fast then. Then he went into the scenario of sewing new cloth to old material that has holes. When the cloth gets wet the new cloth will shrink and tear away from the old material, making the hole even worse. And, Jesus explained that you wouldn’t put old wine into new wineskins because the new wine would burst the new wineskins. *** What Jesus was saying to the Pharisees was that they didn’t understand the things Jesus was doing because he was ushering in the new covenant that was different. If they didn’t change with it, they would not be able to grasp it. They were like the old cloth and the old wineskins. They were not able to adjust to the change because of their hard hearts. *** Jesus then demonstrated what he was talking about. His disciples ate the grain on the Sabbath because the Sabbath was made for man to rule, not for it to rule man. They had made the Sabbath all about rules so hard to keep that it was not restful at all. Jesus reminded them what David did when he was hungry. He ate food that only priests were to eat and it didn’t kill him. David had a relationship with the Lord that gave him access into His house as a priest. *** Jesus demonstrated what was to be done on the Sabbath when he went into the Temple and healed the man with the withered hand. This made the Pharisees so jealous and angry that they met to discuss how they could destroy him. *** Lord, may we enjoy the freedom we have in Christ. May we not be burdened with condemnation but quickly repent and apply the blood of Christ to our hearts. May we live in joy and peace with God and with man.